Maria Christina & Tigano Waterfalls

Iligan City Maria Christina & Tigano Waterfalls

Iligan City is at the Northern Mindanao coast

No sandy beaches are around here just stones Good but seafood is available at some restaurants built on stilts above the water this is in Lanao del Norte province an attractive outdoor destination.

Iligan is a small town at the center north coast and is probably the most attractive non-beach island destination on Mindanao Philippines. That is mainly thanks to the great waterfalls very close to the city, that's Tigano, Maria Cristina, and Dodiongan Falls.

The large ferries leaving Mindanao for Cebu and Manilar are operating from the this part of the island actually a bit to the east which is is at Cagayan De Oro.

Great Mindanao Countryside at Illigan

Illigan Photos

Mindanao outdoor destinations are dominated by green and blue this are the paddy fields and the south China Sea plus some marvelous lakes and waterfalls such as Maria Christina and Tigano waterfall.

But still Lake Lanao is a no go zone because of their ethnic problems. There are no visible tensions elsewhere except at some remote islands between Zamboanga and Malaysia in the Sulu Sea where the situation with the Muslim people is somehow similar to south Thailand and now also in north west Myanmar. This similarity includes that the problems are imported from some countries on the Arab Peninsular.

Philippines Waterfalls at Mindanao

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A pretty colorful tropical environment ideal for an afternoon when in Illigan. Its easy to get down to the fall but difficult to climb up from the pool.

Philippine Buffalo

Buffaloes are still dominating the outdoor workforce.

They are ideal to do the heavy work in the muddy rice fields.

Fun at the water

Mindanao is quite wet because of the clouds of the South China Sea.

They empty their wet load on the high grounds.

Philippines Outdoor

​​Although the island is densely populated there is still enough open nature around to feel good. Mindanao has remarkable beautiful parts with a wide diversity of nature. Beside the ocen front views such as beaches and waterfalls the countryside with rivers hills and optically pretty paddy-fields are stunning.

The limestonecountryside allow great panoramas which have a top tourist importance but unfortunately the relevant parties are always fighting against each other that is no a good idea. What is the result? Instead that everyone get wealthy from the tourists, all get poor since where there is fight no traveler will come and leave their money.

Maria Christina Waterfall at IlliganTropical Philippine Pictures.

Picture made near General Santos on the coast

But to be honest it is somehow understandable that local people are getting restless considering in what a shameful condition the central government in Manila neglects this pretty island.

This spot is definitely worth to have a close look it is one of the main attraction in the whole Sulu Sea. It's a bit difficult to find a good hotel because most along the east-west main road are used for "hanky panky business", it's amazing to see how many people coming in for a quickie, there is nothing to say about it since that's nature but some hotels won't take guests with kids because of that.

[Visiting Iligan attractions at Tigano Waterfall]

There are several travel options possibilities for a trip to visit the falls. The quickest is, take an airplane from Manila or Cebu to Cagayan de Oro and a bus, taxi or rent a car will do the rest, it’s about 90 km, but be aware the road is very bad and traffic is awful during the daytime. The town is about 800 km south of Manila. The area is about 65% hills, 30% nearly level to moderately sloping and 4% is flat.

Adventurous things to do in North Mindanao

Another possibility is taking a ship or ferry from Manila or Cebu to Iligan. By road from Davao, its first to Butuan and to Iligan via Cagayan de Oro, road conditions are in real bad, no wonder why some people on the island getting restless since it is obvious that this pretty spot in the ocean is totally neglected by the central government in Manila. This is unfortunate considering the tourist potential of the island if someone won't believe this they should look to Thailand and Malaysia, they care about the infrastructure.

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The main festival is the Diyandi Festival Sa Iligan

This is a month long festival starting at the end of September. The main event of the Diyandi Festival is a ritual performance by an all-female group outside the Cathedral before the start of the Comedia de San Miguel, a folk stage play depicting the celestial battle. It shows the courtship between a Maranao male and Higaonon female culminating into an offering symbolic of their union and bountiful harvest to the Archangel St. Michael. The ritual aptly describes the peaceful coexistence of Iligan’s people, Maranaos, Higaonons, and Christians.

There are a few restaurants built right into the water and since the coast around is with stones and boulders it definitely is not a beach destination which actually is similar to almost the whole coast around. The spectacular waterfalls shown below will visually offset this easily.

The Maria Christina and Tigano Falls

[Maria Christina Waterfall is spectacular]

[Tigano Falls]

Mindanao round trip is no as easy since most roads are not good and from some areas, people rather stay away.

Here are two of the most famous waterfalls in the southern Philippines and that is the reason why plenty of tourists arrive at this rather remote place.

The Cagayan de Oro harbor with direct ferry links to Cebu and Manila is very close to the northeast. ​

Tigano and Maria Christina Waterfalls at Illigan

The two waterfalls are "Maria Christina Falls" and the "Tigano Waterfall"

Mindanao Pictures

Watch the two water spectacles on the pics and the video.

The "Maria Christina Waterfall" has an electric power station connected to, raw nature power crashes down from the hill. Both waterfalls are a bit to the west of Iligan but only a short distance. Because of the power station, most tourists are at the Tigano Falls.

But be careful at the "Tigano Waterfall" when you want to get closer since that one is only reachable by a very steep and long staircase if you are not fit with your legs there will be a problem to get back.